China to finance Sonangol projects in Angola

Angola relies on oil and gas exports for 60 per cent of gross domestic product. (Image source: Nestor Galina/Flickr)Angola’s state-owned explorer Sonangol will receive US$2bn from China to expand oil and gas projects in the southern African country

The Chinese funds are expected to help Angolan currency revive, which has been hit by a nearly halving of oil prices since June this year, Reuters reported.

The loan was signed between Sonangol chairman Francisco de Lemos José Maria and the president of China Development Bank Zheng Zhijie in Beijing recently.

“Chinese funding should support Sonangol’s expansion projects in the oil and gas sector,” the company said, adding that there were prospects for more financing from China.

The southern African country sells around half of its 1.7mn bpd to Beijing and China’s state-owned oil company Sinopec has a joint venture with Sonangol, operating several large deep offshore projects in the African nation. Sinopec also bought Marathon Oil Corporation’s stake in a huge Angolan oil and gas field for US$1.52bn in 2013.